


The Death and Rebirth of Eugene Fitzherbert

by Froggy1988



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Buddies, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, New Dream Week 2020 (Disney), Romance, Sexual Content, Team Awesome (Disney: Tangled), Teen Eugene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:08:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26178487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Froggy1988/pseuds/Froggy1988
Summary: Or the Sexual Adventures of Flynn Rider/ The Sexual Frustrations of Eugene Fitzherbert - not sure on the name yet.Flynn Rider or Eugene Fitzherbert was a man of two identities, and two lives. So, this is two stories-The tales of dashing adventurer Flynn Rider, thief and renowned ladies man.And his almost asexual counterpart Eugene Fitzherbert, a man learning what it is to have responsibilities and to put the needs of others before himself.Two converging storylines, Flynn Ryder from the day he leaves the orphanage to the day he leaves Stalyan at the altar. Eugene Fitzherbert from resurrection in the tower to his honeymoon. Exploring the missed love scenes and conversations from the series.Chapter 1 - Flynn and Lance try to find their places in the world, and find it's a lot colder too two orphans than they expected. Till a man calling himself the baron offers to help them.Eugene Fitzherbert finds himself living in a castle with his new to the world girlfriend and her father who still hasn't pardoned his death sentence.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Stalyan, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 9
Kudos: 16





	The Death and Rebirth of Eugene Fitzherbert

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, welcome to my new story, this is weird but I said I wouldn’t upload this until I finished another of my stories but as it’s my birthday, and I’ve worked hard on this, I’m letting myself upload it early. I want to prove to myself that I can write Eugene, as he’s my favourite character (which might sound strange because so far I’ve exclusively written Varian/Cassandra) anyway, I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Warning: For this chapter, underage drinking – and some brief mentioning’s of violence, and some sexual themes.

** Chapter one – Flynn Rider **

“GET UP!”

Eugene stirred and moaned. He felt a shifting next to him and he opened his eyes to look down and see a puff of shoulder length brown hair.

“You really need a hair cut kid.” He said running his hand through the greasy locks. “I thought you were going to stay in your own bed tonight.”

A pair of blue eyes looked up at him.

“Sorry Eugene.” The sleepy voice answered.

Solomon was six, he had only been at the orphanage for a few months. His grandmother who had raised him had passed away, and he’d latched on to Eugene almost immediately. Eugene had been trying to wean him off onto some of the other teenagers for a while now. It wasn’t right to keep letting the kid cling to him. Not when he had just turned fourteen himself. 

“Solomon, you know what day it is today right?” Eugene said sitting up in his bed and shifting the sleepy child off him.

Solomon looked up at him sadly.

“You’re leaving.”  
  


“That’s right. So you’re going to have to be really brave, and sleep in your own bed from now on. The other kids will help you.”  
  


“But I don’t want you to leave.”  
  


“Sorry Buddy, it’s Alf’s birthday. Which means…”  
  


“You’re adults now.”  
  


“Correct.”

Eugene puffed out his chest feeling the pride of becoming a man.

At the orphanage leavers were paired up and sent out into the world as a team. Eugene was lucky because the person who was closest to his age (or what the orphanage had guessed his age was when he had been dropped at their door) was his best friend Alfonso.

“You go down to breakfast.” Eugene said, looking two beds down at the still snoring form of his best friend. He got up and flung himself onto the bed eliciting a loud huff from Alfonso.

“Alf Buddy! Wake up! You know what day it is?”  
  


“The day we get kicked out on our butts.” Alfonso answered sitting up and groaning.

“No, it’s the first day of our lives.”  
  


“The first day of my life I was dumped in a breadbasket outside of a church, I think today is going to go in the same vein.”  
  


“No, no, no buddy. Today is the day we start our adventure. Where are we going to sleep tonight? A palace? A ship bound for new countries? Who knows.”  
  


“I’m betting under a bridge, or in the side alleys of the town.”  
  


“Come on, it’s time to reinvent ourselves, it’s time to go wherever the road takes us.”

“It’s time to have to fend for ourselves, and miss a whole lot of meals.”  
  


Eugene eventually managed to convince Alfonso to get dressed. They packed their single changes of clothes and belongings into two hessian backpacks that had been given to them the day before. Eugene took pride in folding up all the things he had collected in recent years. It was the sum of his life, the small comb he’d nicked from the pocket of a guy who was visiting with his wife to take home a baby. The collected stories of Flynn Rider, given to him by the orphanages handyman, a grey tie that he had found just left on the doorknob of a pub bedroom (that had been an adventure, until the bar maid had chased him out), toothbrush, razor (because one day he’d be able to shave), and the small blue ragged comforter he’d been wrapped in when he was abandoned.

He was ready to go. He looked across at Alfonso.

“Let’s do this!” He shouted. He ran down the stairs to be met at the bottom by the orphanages owner, an uptight old woman whom he had never seen smile. She seemed to hate kids, and had never once shown the slightest bit of affection to any of the children. She was holding two paper parcels of sandwiches in her hand.

Eugene took the sandwiches from her.

“Thank you Ms Denvers.”

“Right boys, off you go. And don’t expect to be coming back, we can’t afford to keep yah.”  
  


“Just what exactly are we supposed to do?” Alfonso asked joining Eugene in the doorway.

“You’re fourteen, you get an apprenticeship, you work, they feed you scraps, and let you sleep in a barn, and you’re grateful for it because in the end, in the end you have a skill.”  
  


“I know just where to go.” Eugene said confidently. He took Alfonso’s hand and pulled him out the doorway and down the path, waving back at Ms Denvers as he went. She slammed the door not turning back to look at them.

“And where is that?” Lance said breathlessly being pulled along.  
  


“The docks, in Corona. We’re going to get a job on a ship, and sailing far away from here. My name is Flynn Rider!”  
  


“Like the book?”

“Yes.”  
“Why not Eugene?”  
  


“The days of Eugene are over, Eugene didn’t have anything, but Flynn Rider, he has the world.”  
  


“Okay, what’s my name?”  
  


“You can choose your own name Alfonso.” Flynn said with a roll of his eyes.  
  


“Wait, wait, Lance Strongbow.” Alf, now Lance, announced standing up straight and puffin his chest out.

“Can I just say that is an amazing name, and totally deserving of the best buddy of Flynn Rider, swashbuckling sailor set to make his fortune, and live on his own island surrounded by money and beautiful ladies.”

  
“Ladies? Ha! Your voice hasn’t even broken yet.”

“Come on.” Flynn said ignoring him and running down the path. “ It’s time to go, the world is waiting for us.”  
  


***

“Well that didn’t go as planned.” Eugene, no, Flynn said sitting down on a crate.

He looked around the busy docks, there were so many boats, so many warehouses and he and Alf had gone into every single one to ask for work. The answer had been the same from every person they asked. Apprenticeships were for people who had adults who could recommend them, and parents who were upstanding citizens. Orphans were just trouble. Well, trouble was the nicest word that had been used, thieves, thugs and ruffians, were some of the others… again, the more polite ones.

Lance’s stomach groaned as he sat down next to Eugene.

“Told you.”

“I’m not giving up yet.”

“Uh…Buddy, trouble coming.”  
  


Eugene looked up and saw a guard of Corona marching towards them. A little girl with short black hair, maybe around ten years old, was following behind him.

“I heard there were some boys looking for trouble at the docks.” The guard said looking down at them.

“Not trouble sir.” Lance said.

“Just jobs, honest work.” Flynn answered standing up and trying his best to look like an upstanding citizen.

The guard raised his eyebrow.

“Yeah, we’re looking for honest work.” Lance said also standing up and putting his hand on Flynn’s shoulder. “Maybe an apprenticeship, do you know of anybody? I am stronger than I look, and Flynn here, he’s really good with horses. We don’t need to be paid even, just some food and a place to sleep.”

“I don’t know what your game is, but I doubt little hoodlums like you are looking for honest work. If I were you I would get out of Corona and go somewhere else.”

Flynn was about to answer when the little girl with the green dress, pulled her fathers sword out of the scabbard and rushed at them banishing it threateningly.

  
“Haha! Hoodlums, let me at them!”

“Cassandra, how many times have I told you that my sword is not a toy.” The guard said trying to grab it off of her.   
  


“Ha cute.” Flynn said bending forwards to ruffle her hair.

The girl knocked his hand away.

“I’m going to skin you alive boy!”

Okay, thought Flynn, less cute now, more tiny but aggressive and scary.

“I haven’t done anything.”  
  


The little girl dived at him, forcing him to quickly jump out of the way. He grabbed Lance by the arm as he did so.

“Time to make a quick exit I think.”  
  


“I’m in complete agreement Buddy.” Lance said as they ran away. They could hear the little girl giggling behind them.

“I saw off the hoodlums Daddy.”

“Cassandra! You need to be more disciplined; you can’t just use a sword as a plaything.”

***

Flynn sat down on a log and opened his sandwiches. Lance sat next to him. They were a few miles from Corona now and with the time spent in the docks, they had been walking all day. In a few hours it would be dark, and they had nowhere to go.

“Hey look, a poster, missing Princess. Jeez, can you imagine that, there she is growing up somewhere with no idea she’s a princess. “Lance said pointing to a poster nailed to a nearby tree.

“I can bet you that she’s not growing up in the orphanage. There’s no hidden royalty in that place.”

“No. So..uh.. any plan on what we do next?”  
  


“We’re having an adventure Lance. We’re going to get to know the great outdoors, feel the wind in our hair, hear the howls of the animals, taste…”  
  


“We’re sleeping in the woods aren’t we?” Lance interrupted.  
  


“Camping! Without the barrier of a tent between us and the whole sky. It’s an adventure.”  
  


“Let it go Flynn, when are you going to admit that we’re doomed? We we’re doomed the second our parents dumped us outside the orphanage. Nobody ever wanted us, nobody ever will.”

“Not yet Buddy.” He sighed. “Not yet.”

He finished his sandwich and stood back up, rubbing his palms against his trousers. They needed to find a good camping spot, a place with shelter, but near water, then they’d build a fire to keep the animals away.

“Do you smell that?” Lance asked.

“What?”  
  


“I don’t know, kinda smells like the colour brown.”  


Eugene sniffed the air, he could smell something, like unwashed feet mixed with burnt meat perhaps.

Lance was walking down the forest trail, Eugene rushed to join him and as they turned a corner they saw a low lopsided building built under a giant oak. It looked quaint and welcoming, with a sign of a yellow duckling hanging out front.

“Hey look a pub.”

“We’re too young to drink.”

“Yeah, but it looks nice, quaint, I bet we can get work there washing pans and cooking. I bet it’s run by a sweet old lady who’ll treat us like the sons she never had.” Flynn said running forwards.

He flung the door open, and his heart sank as he saw the clientele. Big men with misshapen features, in furs and horned hats.

“Well, this place does not suite it’s name.” He whispered to Lance.

“Yeah, It’s less fluffy ducking more rabid rat.”

“Who are you?” A man with a hook for hand grunted at them.

“Um.. leaving, we’re leaving.”

“Hookhand!” A loud voice boomed. It belonged to a ginormous man with long blonde hair, as he stepped forwards the rest of the pub thugs seemed to shrink back. “Be more welcoming to the guests. Hey, they look lost, and hungry, come in boys let me buy you some dinner.”

“Flynn…” Lance whispered. “I don’t like the look of this guy.”

Flynn ignored him.

“Thank you. We would love to have some dinner. We just left the orphanage this morning and we’ve been out all day looking for work.”  
  


“Is that so.” The man smirked. “Well, I’m sure I can help you with that. Now tell me boys, have you ever had whiskey? I think you’re going to like it.”

“Thank you. I would love to try.” Flynn said stepping forwards, Lance following nervously behind him.

“So sad how they just toss boys like you out, no education, no money, no family. It breaks my heart.“ The big man said as he put his hand on Flynn’s shoulder. “You can stay with me and my daughter tonight. Oh, you can call me the Baron by the way.”

***

Flynn woke up with a groan, he put his hand to his head. Who’d hit him? And why did everything smell like vomit? The last thing he remembered was being with that kind blonde man who kept buying him and Lance drinks, burning drinks that made his head feel funny.

“Don’t throw up on the carpet, it’ll add to your bill.”  
  


“Hua?” Flynn opened his eyes and saw a girl of his age looking down at him. She was pretty in a kind of angular way, with red curved lips and long red hair. He looked round and saw he was lying on a silken couch in a large marble hallway. He spotted Alf, no, Lance, lying on the floor next to him. And the girl was sat on the couch next to him, watching him with a wicked smile, something stirred in him with the smile.

“Hi, Flynn Rider.” He said holding his hand out. She looked down at it with a raised eyebrow.  
  


“Like the kids book? Seriously, is that what you’re going with?”  
  


“Yep, and what’s your name? Or do I just call you angel?”  
  


“It’s Stalyan.”  
  


“Is that what you’re really going with?”  
  


“It’s the name my mother gave me.”  
“Oh, right.” Flynn flipped himself to an upright position, ignoring the swimming in his head and nudging the snoring Lance with his foot. “Did you say something about a bill?”

Stalyan rolled her eyes.

“What, did you think he was going to look after a couple of orphans’ out of the kindness of his heart? You get clothes, a bed for a few nights, and some food whilst the boys show you the ropes. Then you have to work to pay back your bill, everything it’s cost to keep you for a few nights, plus, of course, a very large mark up.”  
  


“Mark up?”  
  


“About five hundred percent.”  
  


“Per a cent?” Flynn repeated, not really understanding the words. “Wait, so what job are we doing?”  
  


“Congratulations Flynn Rider, you’re now a member of the guild of thieves.”

He gapped at her. Thief? He didn’t want to be a thief, he didn’t want to end up in jail or deported.  
  


“And, if I don’t want to be a thief?”  
  


“You pay back a thousand percent.”

He still didn’t understand what percent meant but a thousand of anything was a big number and he didn’t have two of anything let alone a thousand.  
  


“And if hypo fet I cally I can’t pay?  
  


“Well, you don’t need both your balls do you?”  
  


“Yes I do.” Flynn said instinctively covering his crotch.

“Really? Get a lot of use out of them do you?” The girl teased leaning over to him.  
  


“I plan to.”

She scoffed before getting up and walking away.

“Uh Lance buddy I think we’re in trouble.”

** Eugene Fitzherbert – 10 years later **

Flynn, or Eugene as he seemed to now be going by now, didn’t know what to do. He was pretty sure he had just died, things had changed to a duller colour, he had struggled to breath, felt weak and then there had been nothing. Then heat, light and her. She was still here, in fact she was giving him a string of delightful little kisses even though he’d only just pulled away from a rather passionate one (especially coming from a girl that he assumed had no experience in such matters). But he had to catch his breath, because even though he felt fantastic, he still seemed to be a bit lacking in breath. So, what now?

It’s a question that has plagued people since the dawn of time. What comes after death? Most people didn’t actually have to come up with an action plan though.

He raised his hand and gently pushed Rapunzel away from him. For a second she looked hurt, everything seemed to flicker across her face, unable to hide even the briefest of emotions.

“I just need a little clarity. Did, I uh – Die?”  
  


She nodded.

“And uh, Gothel?”  
  


Rapunzel looked to the window, Eugene had the briefest memory of hearing a scream, but he had been pretty far gone by that point.

“Okay, you just stay put. I’m just going to go and have a look.” He said pulling himself up. On the floor outside the window there was no body, just a cape, a strangely dusty cape. He stood staring for a moment trying to decide how best to put it to Rapunzel that they might not be out of the woods yet.

“Uh, Rapunzel, there’s nothing there.”  


Rapunzel looked up at him sniffing. 

“She was turning to dust.”  
  


“Turning to dust?” He repeated slowly.

Rapunzel nodded sadly.

“People don’t just turn to dust.”  
  


“She was really old, I saw it sometimes, when she had been away, and I hadn’t sung to her for a few days. Sometimes she talked about things that I know from my books happened hundreds of years ago.”  
  


“She was so old she turned to dust.” Eugene said slowly to himself looking out the window. He looked back and saw the tears running down Rapunzel’s cheeks.

“Hey, hey.” He said going back to her and wrapping her in his arms. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that was going to happen. I just thought she wouldn’t keep you locked away anymore. “  
  


“She was all I’ve ever known Eugene.”  
  


“I know.” Eugene said softly stroking her newly shortened hair. “You’re not alone. I’m here. I won’t leave you.” He said.

He sat silently letting her cry, as he tried to figure out his next move. He wouldn’t leave her, not ever, not now, but, he needed a plan. He looked around the room, there were paintings everywhere, they had a certain style to them, but surely there would be a market of sorts for them. Travelling painter and – he would come up with something to do. First job find things to sell, and get far away where the Baron couldn’t find him, far away from Corona and the guards hunting him.

“Vardarose.”  
  


“What?” Rapunzel said wiping her eyes.

“We can’t stay here. It’ll be too much. Too many memories, I mean, even if she kept you prisoner she was your mother.”  
  


“She wasn’t, I mean she was. I don’t know.”  
  


“She wasn’t your mother?”  
  


“No. She took me, when I was a baby, she just wanted my power.”

“Oh, well, we still need to get out of here.”  
  


“Eugene.” Rapunzel sighed, putting her hand on his chest to still him as he tried to get up. “I need to find my parents.”  
  


Eugene looked at her and sighed, man, he’d been through this before but never with an actual adult. Every kid at the orphanage had reached an age when they decided that they were going to go and find their parents, because they knew they were still out there somewhere, they knew they hadn’t been given up, they knew their parents were still searching for them. He’d been through it himself. Eventually realization had crept up on them, nobody was searching, no loving family was out there waiting.

“Blondie, brunette? Never mind. Look, it’s been seventeen, eighteen years since your parents saw you, they’re not likely to even recognise you, and you’re not going to recognise them. We’ll put out some feelers whilst we’re travelling. I promise that we will, but you’ve got to understand, we might never find them.”

“But, I know where they are.”

“What?”  
  


“They’re at the castle in Corona.”  
  


“In Corona..” That was a problem, he was facing a death sentence in Corona.

“Eugene, I’m the lost Princess.”

Eugene wanted to laugh, but then slowly a kind of dread started to fill him, long blonde hair and green eyes, kept away from the world in a tower because she had magical hair, and the clincher - it had been her eighteenth birthday on the day they let off the lanterns to celebrate the lost princesses eighteenth birthday. He looked down at her face, he’d seen Queen Arianna in passing, seen her picture, and now when he looked down at Rapunzel he saw the face of the Queen looking up at him

“Holy hell, you’re the lost princess.”  
  


She nodded.

“You’re the lost Princess.” He repeated, and his heart broke, because he knew what he had to do. He knew what the right thing to do was, it was to give her up, and to do so he had to walk straight up to the courtyard where he was supposed to be hung that morning. Fingers crossed returning a princess would make up for stealing a crown, otherwise he might become the first person to die twice in one day.

He got to his feet.

“We need to get you back to your parents.”  


She sat on the floor staring around the room that had been the limits of her life for so long.

“Eugene, what if I’m not a good Princess? What if my parents don’t love me anymore?”  


He knelt back down to her, putting his hand on her shoulder.

“Then I steal you.”

She gave a small laugh as she wiped her eyes.

“Promise?”  
  


“Hand on heart.”

The Next Day

Eugene grasped the doorframe as the hulking form of the chef ran at him, he didn’t manage to knock him down, but he stumbled out into the corridor.

“Oh come on.” He shouted as the door was slammed shut on him.

“Eugene!”

This time he was knocked of his feet by the flying body of Rapunzel, which was strange, as he swore she weighed practically nothing now she didn’t have seventy feet of hair.

“Opps.” She said with a slight shrug as she righted herself, and (regrettably) removed herself from his lap.

“Blondie!” Eugene cursed himself at the delight in his voice – not cool Fitzherbert.

“I mean, good morning your highness. How are you today?”  
  


She frowned as she sat back on her heels.

“Tired. I didn’t sleep well, the bed is huge, and I kept losing Pascal, and then the King, my Dad, I guess, was sleeping in a chair next to the bed and he snores.”  
  


Eugene noticed for the first time the King and Queen stood at the end of the corridor watching them. He guessed that they had not stopped watching their daughter, even when she slept, since she arrived back in the castle.

“Though, the main problem was that I kept dreaming that Mother was dead, and that you were dead. And then I’d wake up, and I’d remember that Mother is dead, then I’d wonder if you were actually dead too because if one part was real, maybe the other was too. So, I got up early, and I tried to do some chores, but this girl, a maid, stopped me because Princesses aren’t meant to do chores. Then my parents gave me a tour of the castle, but I was still thinking about the chores, and I wanted to see where all the laundry and cooking was done, and I found you being thrown out by the cook.”

She talked so fast that Eugene had a hard time following her, but he definitely picked up on the ‘sad because you might be dead’ part, and he liked that she was worried about him. Not that she was worried and had had a hard night, but because he honestly couldn’t remember the last time somebody was actually worried about him.

“You’re not dead.” Rapunzel finished softly placing her hand furtively on his chest.

He reached up and put his hand over hers, pressing it close into his shirt, a borrowed shirt, as all his clothes had to be burnt because of the blood. What do you do when you’re in love with a Princess but literally don’t even own the shirt on your back?

“Still beating.” He said lightly. “Still breathing too.”

Though his breath did catch when the Princess lay her head against his chest to listen to his breathing. She was so unguarded with him, not like any other woman he’d known, who looked at him as either a predator or a prize. Rapunzel was just happy that he was there, no games, no other motives. He found his hand snaking up into her short and silky hair to play with it, before he remembered they were being watched. He glanced up at the Queen and King who were watching, the Queen’s expression curious, the King’s blank and unreadable, but how could they not disapprove? Cuddling on the floor with a man who was due to be hanged the day previous was not Princess behaviour. Man, he really needed to talk the whole hanging thing over as he wasn’t entirely sure it was off the table. He gently detangled himself from her.

“Eugene?”  
  


“I just think,” he was about to try and explain quietly why he didn’t think she should be hugging him.

“Did you just get thrown out of the kitchen?”  
  


“Uh, yes.”  
  


“Does the cook not like you?”  
  


“No.”  
  


“Have you met before?”  
  


“No.”  
  


“Why does nobody ever seem to like you except me.”

She liked him, and was willing to admit it, in front of people, that made something inside of him soften.  
  


“They think I’m trying to steal something.”  
  


“Well, you did steal that crown.”  
  


“That was four days ago! Seriously the world moves quickly, I’m in the habit of returning things now.”

  
“Ah ha.” She said sceptically.

“I was only asking if I could get some bread for breakfast. I would have paid them, you know, once I find a job.”

The Queen walked past them and knocked on the kitchen door.

A maid opened and curtseyed.

“Your majesty.”  
  


“Could I please get some bread for our … guest.”  
  


“Yes your majesty.”

Rapunzel gave him a happy little smile as he got to his feet and helped her up. A moment later the cook was thrusting a (rather stale) baguette into his hands.

“Thank you.” He said as the door slammed again. The Queen raised her eyebrow.

“Mother, can Eugene join us on our tour? He probably dousn’t’ know where anything is either.”  
  


“I think he probably knows where everything is.” The king said sarcastically.

“Oh, have you seen the library? It’s even bigger than the book shop. There are so many books.” Rapunzel said excitedly.

“Well, no, I.” He didn’t get to finish his sentence as he was dragged back down the corridor.

Eugene didn’t really realize what was going on until he was stood at the foot of a ladder in a huge library being handed down books by Rapunzel. Once again listening to her monologue.

“I’ll eventually have to have lessons, but for now I’m allowed to read whatever I like, but there’s just so many to choose from I don’t know where to start. I’m allowed to put my favourites in my room so I can find them faster, but how do I know which are my favourites until I read them all?”  
  


“Well, you can start with the Adventures of Flynnigan Ryder.” Eugene suggested. “That’s always a good read.”  
  


The King and Queen had finally caught up with them and were standing bemused in the doorway. They were looking up at their daughter with such a look of tender and delighted bewilderment. It was the look that Eugene had dreamed of as a young kid, the look a beloved parent would give a lost child, until he realised that he hadn’t been lost, he’d been thrown away. Still, he could never begrudge Rapunzel that look. He doubted that she was even fully aware of it, her world had been so turned upside down in such a short amount of time that it seemed she didn’t know where to start, all of her thoughts were tumbling out of her mouth at a mile a minute.

“Catch.” Rapunzel shouted and Eugene’s heart leapt out of his chest as he saw her move to jump off the ladder. Luckily, he caught her effortlessly.

“You know Sunshine, you should probably be a bit more careful now you don’t have hair that can heal you. Don’t want to give your parents a heart attack, or me for that matter.” He said as he placed her down on the floor.

“Sorry. Those stars are in the wrong position.” Rapunzel was saying looking at a painting that was above the bookcase (apparently marking that it was the science section). “Sagittarius should be twelve degrees to the North.”  
  


“You understand star charts?” The Queen asked stepping forwards.

Rapunzel nodded. Eugene could tell that she was unsure how to answer. Was it because she was eager to please her newfound parents? Or was it because she was so used to be shot down and downgraded by the witch who had raised her?

“What else have you learnt?”  
  


Eugene could sense Rapunzel distress as she looked at the floor and shuffled her toes. She had lived her whole life in a tower, and she was well aware that she didn’t know much about the world, but Eugene had been astounded by just how much she did know. She understood biology, plants, and genetics even though she hadn’t seen them up close. She understood what made the wind blow differently every day, and why it snowed, even though she could only experience those things through a small window. She had told him at the book shop that she hadn’t wanted for craft supplies, books or games, that her mother had brought her them to keep her amused. She’d been given a few books a year, and had memorised them all. She hadn’t really known that fiction had existed though. None of her books had really been about people.

“Maths and geometry, stars, ocean life, cooking, botany, geology. Though some of my books fell apart because I read them too much.”

“Any history?” Her father asked.

“I had a book once, but I asked to many questions, so mother burnt it.” Rapunzel said looking down.

“Well, I hope you enjoyed it, because you’ll learn lots of history now you’re back. And laws, laws are very important.” The King said.

Spotting his chance Eugene shuffled closer to the King, turning as if he was checking out the books on the shelf next to him.

“So uh.. your Majesty. Talking about laws, I was just wondering if it would be possible for me to check in on the status of my death sentence? I mean, does that still stand or…” The king glowered at him.

“Okay.” He said, backing off. “We’ll come back to it another day.” He turned to see Rapunzel watching him. He had hoped that as she was in conversation with her mother she wouldn’t overhear the conversation. He hadn’t really been honest with her about how her father had ordered his death the day previous. He had a feeling she wouldn’t take it well.

“Death sentence?” She asked, looking confused between each of her parents.

“Nothing to worry about.” Eugene said, trying to ease over the sudden tension. “I mean, I already died right? So, we’re even?” He laughed.

“Let’s talk about something else.” The king said eyeing him up and down.

“Yes. Good idea.” Eugene agreed.

“Like, I do believe we owe you an eighteenth birthday present.” He said smiling at his daughter. “Well, eighteen birthday presents to be exact, but let’s.. ahem.. ask me for anything, I will grant it.”  
  


“Anything?” Rapunzel asked raising an eyebrow, he might have only known her for a few days, but Eugene knew that eyebrow, that was the look that meant she was planning something.

“Of course my Darling, once you are settled in here, we’ll be having a weeklong celebration. The Kingdom has awaited your return for so long.” He stepped forwards and took her in his arms. “I have awaited your return for so long.”

“I want nobody to ever be put to death in Corona, ever again.”

The king froze.

“I was thinking a pony?” 

She pushed away from him.

“You almost killed Eugene, an innocent man.”  
  


“Umm…” Eugene said. “Technically, not innocent.”  
  


“A good man.”  
  


“Willing to try.”

“And if you had, I would never have got free. Never have come back. What I want,” She said softly. “What I really want, is for there to be no more death sentence in Corona, because a thief and a gang of thugs worked together to save me. I know that they have good hearts and can be good people if given the chance. If you kill somebody then they never have the chance to become a better person.”

“That’s a royal decree.” The Queen said seriously, stepping forwards and looking up at her husband.

“It’s her first day as a Princess, and she wants to make a royal decree.” He said staring at her in shock.

“She was born into this, I’ve always said that we should look into those laws and the prison barges are really secure.” The Queen replied.

The King let out a little sob and Eugene found himself turning away.

“My daughter, you are going to be such a wise and fair Queen. I am so proud of you. Of course, I will start drawing up the new laws tomorrow, and we will announce them by the end of the week. A royal decree, on your first day.”

“And you’ll pardon Eugene?” She said in a wheedling tone.

“If It makes you happy.”  
  


“It does.” She said bounding up to the tall man and hugging him. Eugene met her eyes over his shoulder and mouthed ‘thank you’.

“Oh Dad, can you help find Eugene a job? I mean, if he’s not a thief anymore dousn’t he need one?”

  
“Well, he can earn his keep here. For one there is a mysterious hole in the throne rooms roof. As you have already been up there I’m assuming you’re not afraid of heights, so you can fix that.”  
  


“Yes sir, happy too.”

“Then I believe one of the stable hands has recently broken their arm, there is quite a backup on the mucking out, that should help earn your food and keep.”

Eugene knew the king was challenging him, but Eugene wasn’t just a pretty boy, he was perfectly willing to shovel manure if it meant staying near Rapunzel for a bit longer. She didn’t seem settled yet, she just needed a friendly face for a bit longer, that’s how he explained it to himself. Because being in love with a girl locked in a tower who processed magical hair was a lot more realistic than being in love with the Princess of Corona.

***

Eugene went to the library to continue his search for the adventures of Flynn Rider, granted he’d been looking since he arrived in the castle a month ago, and he still hadn’t found it yet. He just couldn’t accept that a library so big wouldn’t have one of the best books ever written.

Rapunzel was sat at a table her head bent angular over some books. She looked up furtively but a smile quickly lit her face when she saw him.

“Eugene, I’m so glad to see you.”  
  


Eugene felt that warmth start to fill his chest, the warmth of knowing somebody was actually happy to see you, actually needed you.

“Drop your trousers.”  
  


“What?” He said startled.  
  


“Sorry, that was rude.”  
  


“Yeah.”  
  


“Drop your trousers please.”  
  


“Uh, no.”

“Why not?”  
  


“Because I’d get arrested.”  
  


“That’s your answer to everything these days.”  
  


“Considering you’re the princess you really need to learn the laws. Anyway, may I ask why it is you want to see me in my underwear, not that I wear any but, you know.” He shrugged as he walked towards her and looked over at the books that she had been reading guessing there was going to be some answers in there. Yep, anatomy books.  
  


“I’m trying to figure out which of these pictures is the right representation, you see they’re different, and one of them must be wrong. This one is hanging downwards, and this one is standing upwards.”  
  


“They’re both right, they do that, they move.”  
  


Rapunzel’s eyes lit up in a delighted way that was just, frankly, weird.

“Really, that’s so amazing. Show me.”  
  


“Noooo.”  
  


“Why? Because I’ll get arrested. “She said answering her own question, mimicking of his voice.

“How do you control it? Do you ask it to point up? Or do you just think it? Maybe some kind of pressure point?”  
  
“You don’t control it. Sometimes it controls you, and I have to say it gets you into a lot of trouble.”  
  


“Wait, so how does it go from down to up and vice versa.” She was looking and gesturing at his crotch in a way that was making him rather uncomfortable.

“Maybe this is a conversation to have with your mother.”  
  


“My mother dousn’t have a penis Eugene, she’s a woman.”  
  


“She’ll still know a bit about them Rapunzel.”

“I know.” Rapunzel sighed. “But sometimes when I ask my parents questions they look sad, like they just expect me to know these things, and it makes them sad that I don’t. So I just come to the library to try and find the answer myself.”  
  


Eugene put his hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, listen to me Blondie, I think the thing that makes them sad is that they haven’t been there to teach you the things that you ought to know. I do think that going to the library is a good idea, but you shouldn’t deny them the chance to teach you things, they’ve been denied that for way too long.”  
  


“I’m meant to know about men, aren’t I?” Rapunzel sighed.  
  


“Most women your age would know most of this stuff, In theory, by now, yes. And it is important to know, I mean, you’re a princess, at marriageable age, heir to the throne, sooner or later every two bit Baron or island prince under the age of fifty is going to come a courting.”  
  


“I’m not interested in any princes Eugene.”  
  


“To be fair Blondie, you haven’t met any Princes yet.”  
  


“That dousn’t matter.”  
  


“What I’m trying to say, is that it is true that you should know a little in case any of them start pawing at you.”  
  


“And what do I do if they start pawing at me?”  
  


“You kick them there. “Eugene said jabbing his finger at the picture in the book.

Rapunzel giggled. She leaned in close to him, resting her head against his shoulder so he could feel the silken soft wisps of her hair brush his cheek, and breath in the clean scent of the coconut water that was used to wash and scent her hair. He’d never known a girl smell like that before.

“And when I kick them.” Rapunzel muttered. “Would they be up or down?”

Eugene laugh, she wasn’t going to let him escape the question.

“Whichever hurts the most.”  
  


“Eugene.” She groaned.

“It’s to prepare for sexual intercourse.” Eugene relented.

“Ah, it helps things fit better.”  
  


“Yes. “  
  


“So it goes up when you’re about to have sex?”  
  


“Yes, but sometimes just when you’re kissing, or you see a girl you really like not wearing much. Things like that.”  
  


“Ah, things like that.”  
  


“Things that make your blood boil.”  
  


She winced away from him, and Eugene cursed himself for his choice of words, because he had been really enjoying having her close to him.

“Ouch, like a fever?”  
  


“No, it’s just a saying, because that’s what it sometimes feels like when your body wants to have sex with somebody, like a hotness, an energy that just is sitting there wanting to explode out.”  
  


“And what happens if you don’t have sex?”  
  


“Well, that’s never happened to me.”  
  


“Eugene!”

“It dousn’t do anybody any harm to wait. In fact, it usually does harm when you don’t wait.”  
  


“Like?”  
  


“Like unwanted pregnancies, unmarried mothers, babies abandoned at orphanages.”

Like me, were the words he didn’t speak.  
  


“Oh.” Rapunzel said looking down at her book.

“There’s more to all this than just anatomy, isn’t there?”  
  


“There is. A lot more. But, for your purposes, I think it’s a good place to start.”  
  


“Thank you Eugene. Thank you for explaining it to me.”  
  


“It’s no problem, but if it’s all the same to you I would rather that you didn’t tell your parents we were having this kind of conversation.”  
  


“Because it’s inappropriate.”  
  


“Bingo.”  
  


“I swear almost everything I do involving you my parents say is inappropriate.”

“That’s because Princesses aren’t supposed to be friends with thieves.”  
  


“Well it’s a good thing that we’re not friends then.” She said kissing him on his cheek.

“Aren’t we? Well Blondie I’m hurt.”  
  


“You know what I mean Eugene. Friends don’t kiss each other.”

“Some do.”

“Eugene.”  
  


“Kissing is definitely inappropriate.”  
  


“Well, I like it.” Rapunzel said leaning in, and this time kissing him gently on the lips.

***

Eugene was awoken by the bed besides him moving. He jumped alert, his hand seeking the dagger he had lying on his bedside table.  
  


“Shush.” A distinctively feminine voice said next to him.

“Blondie?” He whispered, squinting in the dark trying to make out the figure on the bed beside him, it was definitely thin and feminine.

“Hi.”  
  


“Not hi, what the?” Eugene said feeling around in the dark for her and grabbing her shoulders. “You’re not meant to be here.”  
  


“I had that dream again.” She said softly.

“Blondie, if you’re found here, I will be in heaps of trouble.”  
  


There was a little shake in her shoulders, a little catch in her breath, and Eugene knew that she was crying.

“Okay.” He whispered. “It’s Okay, I’m here now.” He laid down and pulled the small form on top of him placing her hand on his chest. “Heart still beating.” He said gently. She pushed her cheek to his bare chest and he felt the coolness of her tears against his skin.

“Still breathing.” She whispered back.  
  


It would be okay, just to let her stay for a few minutes, Eugene thought to himself. Just a few minutes to let her calm down before he took her back to her room. He doubted anybody would miss her for a few minutes. With that thought he fell asleep.

***

There was a loud bang and Eugene’s hand once again reached out for his dagger, only to find that somebody else had got there first and was snatching it up. He opened his eyes to see the captain of the guards hoovering over him holding a lantern up to his face. He tried to roll out of bed, to get on his feet and fight back, but there was a weight on top of him. It was then he looked down and saw the unmistakable spiky brown hair of the Princess against his chest, sleepily stirring, and even though he knew he was in deep trouble, his heart skipped a beat to see her curled up into him like that.

“I’ve found her.” The Captain shouted.

Rapunzel opened her eyes, looking dazed and confused.

“Eugene.” She whispered.

“It’s alright.” He said firmly.

He helped her to sit up as the King and Queen came running into the bedroom. He was waiting to hear the angry shouting that would usually accompany him being found in bed with a woman by her parents, but instead there was a loud sob as the Queen flung herself on to her daughter.

“I thought you were gone again.”

Eugene felt guilt rising in his chest as he realized that Rapunzel’s parents had assumed her missing, and some sort of search had obviously been taking place as they had happily snoozed in each other’s arms.

“It’s Okay Mum. I just came to see Eugene.” She said hugging her mother.  
  


“That is not Okay Rapunzel.” Her father said from the doorway, shooting Eugene a look of barely contained rage.  
  


“I had a nightmare, I wanted to know he was alright.”  
  


“Fitzherbert?”  
  


“I’m sorry your Majesty, she was upset. I meant to send her back to her room once she had calmed down, but I must have fell asleep.” He tried to explain, tried to reassure them that all this was perfectly innocent.  
  


“Guards, will you take Fitzherbert to different lodgings whilst we talk with our daughter. “  
  


Eugene grabbed his shirt from the floor and followed the guards out the room, trying to appear calm for Rapunzel’s sake.

“He means the dungeons doesn’t he?” He asked once out of ear shot.  
  


The guard roughly pushed his shoulder in the direction down the hall.

“Yep, the dungeons. Knew it.”

***

Eugene was staring at the moss-covered stones of the cell. It was the same cell he’d been put in on the night of the lanterns, he was just glad that Corona no longer had the death sentence, or he’d be freaking out right about now. He was considering just how he had managed to get himself locked up yet again, some convoluted thought patterns including frying pans and rather unusual horses, when he heard the soft padding of feet, he sat up puzzled as those feet definitely did not belong to the guards.

“Eugene.”  
  


“Blondie!” He rushed to the bars and grabbed her hand. “Are you alright? Did they punish you? I swear if anybody touched a hair on your head.”  
  


“Eugene, nobody hurt me, nobody even shouted at me. They were just upset.”  
  


A guard appeared next to Rapunzel and began to unlock the door. Eugene went and stood next to it waiting to walk out but was surprised when Rapunzel brushed past him, and sat on the bed by his cell instead. The door was relocked, and the Captain of the guard turned to face away from them. Eugene raised his eyebrow and looked over at Rapunzel.

“I’m sorry you’re locked in here. It’s all my fault, I should have listened when you told me to leave. I’ve tried talking to Dad about not locking you up, but he’s very upset.”

“They thought you were gone again. Don’t you understand? You’re their dream.”  
  


“And they’re scared they’ll lose me.”  
  


“Yes.”  
  


“Because losing a dream is painful.”

“Yes.” Eugene agreed sitting next to her.  
  


“Like when you died.”  
  


“Oh, Sunshine.” He reached up and brushed her hair out of her eyes. “I don’t plan on dying again.”  
  


“And I don’t plan on being kidnapped again.”  
  


“But they’re still scared of that.”  
  


“Just like I’m still scared of you dying again. That’s why I had to come and see you tonight, even though I knew it was wrong, and that I’m not meant to be in a man’s room at night.”

“You’ve got all this now Rapunzel, a castle, parents who think you’re the world, a city full of people who are excited to meet you. With all this, you don’t really need me to be your dream.”  
  


“But you still are.”  
  


“All this, and you still want a thief?”   
  


“No. I still want Eugene.”  
  


“Why?”  
  


“Because you were nice to me when you didn’t have to be, when I was a naïve nobody locked in a tower. Because when you’re nearby, I feel like I can be and do everything that everybody else wants to me to do and be. I can spend time with you and just be myself, not a princess or a long lost daughter, or a good student, just me, the naive girl from the tower. You see me Eugene, and you still want me, well, I thought you did.”

  
“Hey. I do.” Eugene said, damn the guards, he kissed her. “I wanted to be with you before I knew you were a Princess.”  
  


“We were going to go to Vardaros.”  
  


“We we’re going to keep moving until we found somewhere, you were going to paint, and I was going to cook in a pub, maybe in Italy.”

“Italy?”  
  


“I like Italy, although I did steal a lot whilst I was there. I think there were still some small towns that might not have anybody that holds a grudge against me. Anyways, Italians like frescoes, and you were going to paint them for them.”

“I’m going to read more about Italy, and then maybe one day we’ll go together.”  
  


“That sounds nice.”  
  


“It’ll be a new part of my dream.”  


“I’m always going to help you live your dream.” He said ignoring the doubt in his mind that told him he was lying to her, that they’d never go to Italy, that she was a Princess and he was far from a Prince. He leaned in to kiss her again, but she jumped back when there was a loud bang of the guard hitting his baton against the bars.

“Rider!”  
  


“It’s Mr. Fitzherbert I’ll have you know, and it’s rude to startle the Princess like that.”

  
“Maybe I should try and get you out of the cell before we go to Italy.” Rapunzel joked.

“Oh, it’s starting to feel pretty homely, I was thinking I’d get a vase.”  
  


“Captain, does Eugene really have to stay here?”  
  


“I have strict orders to keep him here till tomorrow.”  
  


“And after tomorrow?”  
  


“I set him free.” The guard said begrudgingly.

Rapunzel looked curiously at Eugene.

“Guess your Dad is just letting me know what will happen if he finds me in bed with you again.”  
  


“No.” The Captain interrupted. “He said if he found you with the Princess again that your new name was to be the eunuch Fitzherbert.”  
  


Eugene’s eyes flickered to his crotch as he blanched.

“What’s a eunuch?” Rapunzel asked.  
  


“Something I definitely don’t want to be.”  
  


“Time to go to your lessons Princess.” The Captain said pointedly.

“Bye Eugene. I’ll bring you a blanket later, so you don’t get cold.”  
  


“Thanks Blondie.”

She leaned in and kissed his cheek as she left.

***

“Your Majesty, thank you for seeing me.” Eugene said as he walked into the King’s personal office.  
  


“Sit Down Eugene. “King Fredrick said indicating the chair across from him, but not looking up from where he was writing. “Have you come to complain about your treatment?”  
  


“No. I want to formally thank you for your hospitality over the last few months.”

The King looked up at him raising an eyebrow, perhaps thinking about all the manure shovelling that he’d got Eugene to do, and the other hundred odd jobs that it had amused the king to set him on for the last few weeks, armour polishing, weeding between the pavestones, repainting a hallway.

“Truly. I am grateful for everything that you have done for me. “Eugene continued earnestly. “Thank you for pardoning me and giving me an opportunity to try and get my life on the right path.”  
  


The king stared at him for a long time before finally sighing.

“I lost a baby, and I was returned a teenager.”  
  


“Your majesty?”  
  


“I’m not ready for my little girl to be interested in men.”  


“In my experience most father aren’t.”  
  


“And what experience is that?”  
  


“Moving on, I just wanted to thank you for not hanging me, and uh apologize for the incident a few nights ago.”

“When you were found in bed with my daughter.”

“In all fairness, she was in bed with me. But, I wanted to apologize, that shouldn’t have happened, and it’s entirely my fault for not setting the boundaries.”  
  


“Rapunzel does not know what behaviour is inappropriate sometimes, but you do.”  
  


“I know, that’s why it’s entirely my fault.”  
  


“Why did you not send her away? Explain the situation.”  
  


“I should have done, it’s just, she was upset. She wanted to be with me, and a part of that it speaks to my ego. I like it that she wants me to calm her down, I like it that she wants to be near me. She’s purity and light, and so much enthusiasm and positivity, I’m shutting up now.” He finished catching the furrowed brow of the king.

“And why do you want her purity and light?”  
  


“Because it makes me feel like a better person when I’m near her. Everybody just sees me as a thief, but she believes I can be something more, and she makes me want to try.”  
  


The king nodded slowly.

“Not to use her?”  
  


“What! No! She’s been used her entire life; I couldn’t do that to her.”  
  


The King sighed, and stood up, turning to look out the window behind his desk.

“I lost a baby, she came back a teenager, and brought a load of thieves and ruffians into my castle. She came back, and she brought you, a man of some obvious experience, whom she freely throws herself at every time she sees, and whom I have heard she kisses in public.” The king sighed. “And, all of you thieves and ruffian seem to be set on seeking redemption, becoming mimes, or pianists or opening bakeries.”

  
“She has that effect on people. It’s like she listens to their dreams and because somebodies listening they feel like they have a chance to try and achieve those dreams.”

  
“Indeed. Then there’s you. What’s your dream Eugene?”  
  


“Honestly, for a very brief time, it was her. I thought that I could live my life with her. That’s why I died for her, because I wanted her to be free, even if I didn’t get to be there to witness it. Then, I found out she was a Princess, and my dream died. Because even though I’m the one she wants to be near now, I know it can’t last forever. I know at some point there’ll be someone else. For now though, I’m just happy waiting in the wings, and watching her enjoy being free. It makes me happy, and it makes me a better man.”

Eugene had stared at his hands the entire time that he had talked. His hand that ought to be scarred right now, but that she had cured, the warmth, the tingling, sometimes if he closed his eyes he still felt it. He had no idea why he was admitting all this to the king, he probably shouldn’t be. For all he knew the king would choose to banish him now, but a part of him felt that being honest was the right thing to do.

He was shocked when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I never thanked you, properly, for bringing her back. I never thanked you for how much you were willing to risk, and what you went through to rescue her.”  
  


“Honestly, I’d do it over a thousand times.”  
  


“Maybe, you aren’t the worst choice to be my daughters first beau. At least I know that you would take care of her. “  
  


“Beau?”  
  


“Dating.” The King clarified.  
  


“I’ve never actually taken her on a date, well, unless you count the day of the lanterns.”  
  


“A day she never stops talking about, apparently it was the ‘best day ever’. For some reason, that I an not fathom, you make my daughter happy, and I want my daughter to be happy. All those years without her, my kingdoms future at stake, and all I could wonder was if she was happy, if she was loved, if she was well treated.”  
  


“If it’s any consternation, I can’t fathom it either.”  
  


“Okay, you can ask me,” the king sighed.

“Ask you what?”  
  


“Ask me if you may spend time with my daughter.”  
  


“I already am spending time.. ahem.” Eugene stopped himself as he incredulously realized that the King was offering him some recognition, some sort of acceptance of him having a relationship with Rapunzel. Him, a thief. “I mean, your majesty. Might I take fair Rapunzel on a date?”  
  


“A date?”   
  


“Somewhere reputable.” He saw the Kings face darken slightly and changed tactic. “Or perhaps, nowhere, perhaps just a dinner in the castle?”  
  


The king frowned.

“Okay Fitzherbert, for now, you can take my daughter on a date. But I’ve picked her out a new Ladies maid to …protect her virtue.”  
  


“Oh…okay, Ladies maids love me.”


End file.
